My Unseen Hero
by KenzieLee05
Summary: "A huge black train was barreling toward me. I heard a little voice screaming at me to run, but I couldn't get my feet to move. All I could do was stand there and watch, frozen, paralyzed by fear and think, 'I'm dead'." A gorgeous, green-eyed stranger saves Bella Swan from the hand of death. Will he let her in, or will his past keep him from love? AH, a little OOC.
1. Prolouge

Prologue

There are always those scary movies where the girl is right in the face of death and she is just standing there-still, unmoving. The whole audience is yelling. "Run!" "Why isn't she running?" "How hard can it possibly be?" Then you see death run at you yourself, and most of the time you will find out that you really can't move. You can just sit and watch as it gets closer and closer.

"A huge black train was barreling toward me. I heard a little voice screaming at me to run, but I couldn't get my feet to move. All I could do was stand there and watch, frozen, paralyzed by fear and think, "I'm dead"."


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Here is the beginning of My Unseen Hero...for the second time. Oh well, better than never right? This is the story that was on Kenzie and Lynnette but has now been deleted from that profile. I'm not gonna go through the whole story of why I'm redoing it again though because I don't feel like it. Haha well anyway, I'm gonna stop babbling now.**

"Isabella Marie Swan! Get your butt down the stairs before I come up there and drag you down myself!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled back to my best friend, Rose. I hit the snooze button one time too many this morning, making me late…..again. Me being late makes Rose late and Rosalie Hale is someone who can NOT be late.

"Tick tock!" Rose yelled again. I swear she is the most impatient person I have ever met! But I still love her. Rose and I have been best friends since first grade when James Mason called me ugly. Rose walked right up to him and punched him square in the nose. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I ran down the stairs as fast as I possibly could, grabbing Rose by the hand and rushing out the door. I climbed into the back seat of the Mercedes, letting Rose have shotgun next to Jasper, who was driving.

"Rose, calm down. We're not going to be late," Jasper said, seeing the annoyed look on her face.

"You so owe me lunch," I piped in, "because I missed my hearty granola-bar-and-milk breakfast just so you could get to school on time!"

"Fine! I'll buy you a big gourmet pizza lunch! I'm just stressed! It's the last day of finals, there are still two days of school left, and I just really want my summer break right _now_!" Jasper and I burst out laughing at her little rant as we pulled into the school parking lot. I got out, said bye to Rose and Jasper, and set off to take my history final. I finished an hour early-yeah, it was that easy-so I walked outside and sat on the front steps to wait for Rose and Jasper. I pulled my iPod out of my jacket and pushed play, not even bothering to see what song was playing.

"We could have had it all

Rolling in the deep

You had my heart inside of your hand

But you played it

To the beat"

Adele sang into my earphones. Those words always reminded me of my first—and only—boyfriend. Jason Sanders. I was a freshman; he was a sophomore, so when he asked me out I was more than happy to say yes. We had a great few months together, until I began to really notice that he was asking more and more questions about one of my good friends, Jessica Stanley. Finally, after multiple questions on my part, he admitted that basically he liked her—not me—and that he was only with me in an attempt to get closer to her. After that little conversation, Rose went straight to his house, gave him a few choice words and a good kick in the shin. Where was Jasper during all of this? Oh, he was the one that drove Rose to Jason's house. And you know what the sickest part about all of that was? Jason and Jessica were officially dating three days afterward. A year and half later and they are still together. That effectively ended my friendship with Jessica once and for all. Oh well. I don't miss either of them anymore.

While I was in my little daydream of sorts, Rose and Jasper had finished their finals and were walking toward me, Rose beaming from ear to ear.

"I SO aced that Calculus final! And because of my amazing geniusness and also because we have nothing better to do, we are going to the Seattle Mall to eat the greasiest pizza we lay our eyes on. Oh, and to shop for some new clothes of course!" Rose said, practically bouncing with happiness and excitement.

I groaned. I'm not much of a shopper at all, but I didn't put up a fight this time, just because I was getting free pizza out of this and, well, I couldn't pass up the chance to get out of Forks for a day. Don't get me wrong—I love my home, but you just need to get away sometimes.

"Sure," I told them, "just run me home so I can grab a couple things real quick please."

"Ok," Rose replied, "I need to run home too for a second, so that works."

Once we got to my house I ran up to my room, dropped my book bag, and shoved my wallet, keys, and phone into my purse. I ran back downstairs and was almost out the door before I wheeled around and ran back to the kitchen. I grabbed a pen and paper and quickly scribbled down a note to my parents explaining where I was going. After I was sure I hadn't forgotten anything, I ran back out the front door and into the awaiting car.

"Two minutes, thirty-three seconds. Good work." Rose informed me.

"Thanks. I try." I replied with a smile. Jasper chuckled as we pulled up to their house. Andrea's car was gone, so I assumed she was at work today. Andrea is Rose and Jasper's mother. Their father walked out on them when Rose was five and Jasper was six, not telling them goodbye at all. They haven't heard from him since. Rose doesn't remember him hardly at all, but Jasper does. It made him a very protective person, over his sister especially. It's a touchy subject for him so we don't talk about it if we can help it.

While Rose ran inside to do whatever, I leaned forward. "Jasper, why do you put up with us? I mean, the last thing any guy probably wants to do is hang around with his sister and her best friend."

He chuckled. "Bella, all the guys around here are all big bad jocks that say 'If you don't play football, you're nobody around here.' I also want to be able to watch over my sister. One man has already left her, she doesn't need another." Before I could reply, Rose came bouncing back out of the house and hopped into the car.

"Okay, I'm ready! Let's go!" she said, as Jasper pulled out of the drive. We cranked up the radio and sang along with everything from Eminem to Katy Perry the whole way there. Once we arrived, we all went straight for the pizza.

"Ohh look at that guy! He's cute!" Rose said, pointing him out. Rose could probably have any guy in the world she wanted. She's drop dead gorgeous with sharp blue eyes, wavy blonde hair that goes to the middle of her back, and a touch of a tan from trips to the tanning bed. Now I'm a whole different story. I have brown eyes, thin, brown hair that falls a little past my shoulders, and I am just about as pale as you could possibly get. Jasper has hazel eyes, sandy colored hair that is very curly, and he's also pale, but not as pale as I am.

"Eh. He's ok," I told her, making a face. "I've seen better."

"Oh whatever. C'mon! It's shopping time!"

"Oh yay me." I replied and she stuck her tongue out at me. After about three hours of shopping and dragging me and poor Jasper around, Rose decided it was time to go home. We were more than happy to oblige.

Once I got home I went through the whole "How has your day been today? And "What all did you do" conversation with my parents before I was finally freed to go settle down for the night. Only one day of school left. Then we would be free for a whole two months before Junior year started up. Little did I know that this summer, I would come a mere few inches from knocking on death's door.

**A/N: So...what do ya think? Stop or keep going? I don't wanna keep going if nobody likes it...so please REVIEW! Constructive criticism is welcome, but please no flaming. Any questions/other comments just PM me and I'll most likely reply! PLEASE tell me what you think! I beg you!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey! Here's chapter 2 for ya!...If anybody is reading haha. I think I'm gonna post this and chapter 3 today then post another chapter every Saturday. I have up to chapter 9 written and still working on chapter 10. I think that gives me enough time to get chapters written without worrying about running out of time. ANYWAY...R&R!**

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ugh!" I groaned, as I reached over and slapped the alarm clock. It fell to the floor with a thud and finally stopped beeping. "It's the last day," I told myself, "a few more hours of school and you're free." Using that statement as motivation, I lazily got out of bed and made myself look presentable. Still feeling sluggish, I walked very slowly down the stairs. Mom and Dad had already left for work, so I just made myself a bowl of cereal while waiting for Rose and Jasper. When I _finally_ heard the car pull in the driveway, I ran outside quickly to try to stay as dry a possible because of course it was raining.

"Are you happy, Rose?" I asked. "I'm actually on time today."

"Rawr. Somebody's snippy this morning. And yes, I am happy, thank you." She grinned at me and I smirked back.

"Okay you two. Let's not start a cat fight around here." Jasper said, laughing. I huffed, crossing my arms and putting on a fake pouty face, making them both laugh.

"Aw, c'mon Bella. Cheer up! It's the last day of school! I'll tell you what, after school we are going to my house, I'm going to make the best macaroni and cheese you've ever had, and then we are going to curl up under some blankets and watch some ridiculously scary movies. And you are going to enjoy every second of it. No if's, and's, or but's." Rosalie told me with a stern look on her face.

"Okay fine. But only because I'm a sucker for your macaroni." I replied with a smile.

"Great! It's settled then!" She turned to Jasper. "You in Jazz?"

"Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Awesome. It's a date!"

We spent the rest of the ride to school discussing possible movie options. Once we got to school, there were banners all over the place congratulating all the seniors. On the last day of school freshmen and sophomores had to help set the auditorium and gym for graduation and the reception, while juniors and seniors helped to clean up the school for the summer. The whole process usually took up about three or four hours. Then we were free. Rose and I said goodbye to Jasper and began to make our way toward the gym. On our way we got caught behind Jessica Stanley and her sidekick, Lauren Summers who were gossiping as usual.

"Oh my gosh, Lauren! I overheard my parents talking to some of their friends yesterday, and they said there was a new family moving here today. Apparently the three kids will be coming here next year. They said it was two boys and a girl. One will be a senior and the other two juniors I think!"

Wow. A new family moving in. Not very many people at all decide to move to Forks, so it is always a popular topic of gossip when the rarity of a new family does happen. Well that will make the junior class about sixty. "Woo-hoo." I muttered to myself sarcastically.

At about eleven thirty we FINALLY finished setting everything up.

"Ok," Rose said, "I am absolutely starving. I vote we go to see if Jasper is done so we can get out of here for good." On our way to find Jasper, we found that he was on his way to find us.

"So," he said, "who's ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Rose and I burst out laughing.

"We are!" We yelled, raising our hands.

"Well then what are we waiting for?"

We practically ran out to the parking and jumped into the car. Jasper drove us over to the local movie store to figure out what we wanted to watch. After about thirty minutes of arguing we finally settled on buying Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Paranormal Activity, Friday the 13th, and Final Destination. We made our way to their house to begin "horror night" as Rose called it. While Rose started her famous (well, famous to me at least) macaroni, Jasper and I prowled through the house, grabbing every pillow and blanket we could find while acting stupidly like ninjas. Well the ninja thing ended when Jasper jumped out at me-scaring me to death-and I accidently punched him in the gut. Heh heh. Woops. Once that little incident was over Rose finally finished our lunch. Great. I was starving.

"I'm not so hungry after Bella's little punch." Jasper said, while grinning at me.

"Hey now. I said I was sorry! Just take that as a lesson not to scare me anymore."

"Okay you big babies. Do you want your lunch or would you just prefer to keep arguing?" Rose asked while smirking at us.

"Oh I'll eat, thank you." Jasper replied.

"Well I vote that now that Rose is finished cooking and we now have our food, we should begin our movie marathon!" I called over my shoulder, making my way to the living room. "What are we watching first?"

Rose yelled "Final Destination!" exactly the same time Jasper yelled "Texas Chainsaw Massacre!"

"Oh, we have a tie now do we? Hmmm…we'll flip a coin!" I said, digging through my purse for a quarter. Once I finally found one Rose and Jasper were arguing over who got heads and who got tails.

"HEY!" I yelled at them. "I've picked a number between one and ten. Whoever picks a number closest to mine wins okay?" They nodded. "Ok, Rose, pick your number."

"Uh…..three!"

"Jasper?"

"Eight!"

"Rose wins. My number was five." I flipped the coin. "Ok, what side did you pick Rose?"

"Heads." I looked at the coin.

"It's tails."

"Woo!" Jasper yelled. "Let's watch some chainsaws!" Rose and I laughed as they settled in on the couch and I bent down to put the movie in.

Let's just say the next six or so hours were full of eye covering, popcorn flying across the room, and screams. Jasper screamed more than me and Rose combined.

"Well, that was fun. I guess we should probably clean this mess up shouldn't we?" I said, looking at all the popcorn around the room.

Rose laughed. "It was all Jasper's fault! He was the one that jumped every time somebody walked around a corner!"

"Hey," Jasper said, wearing his best pouty face, "those movies were scary!" Rose and I couldn't help it, we burst into hysterics; Jasper glaring at us the whole time.

"Fine," he said, "laugh away! You will regret this! I'm making you two clean up all this! So HA! Now I am going to attempt to go to sleep and hope I don't have nightmares!" He huffed and stomped off to his bedroom, sending me and Rose into another round of hysterics. Once we calmed down and cleaned up all the popcorn, it was seven thirty, so I figured I should head home.

"As much as I hate to say it, my parents are going to be home soon and so is your mom. So I figure I better be heading home."

Rose sighed. "Fine. But do you want me to drive you home? I don't mind."

"Nah, it's ok, I haven't taken a walk in a while. I'm not scared like Jasper." I giggled.

She snorted. "I swear, sometimes wonder how we're even related."

I laughed again as I walked out the door. "I'll call you later!"

"Kay, bye!" I heard her yell back.

I smiled as I turned to the woods and began to walk the familiar path that came out behind my house. I pulled my iPod out of my jacket and turned it up as loud as it would go. I came up to the railroad track that passes through the woods. I didn't bother to look to since a train pretty much never comes by these tracks

As soon as I stepped onto the tracks, I heard a very loud roaring over the music. . I looked up and not eighty yards away from me, a huge black train was barreling toward me at unnerving speeds. I heard a little voice screaming at me to run, but I couldn't get my feet to move. All I could do was stand there, like those girls from the scary movies, frozen, paralyzed by fear and think, "I'm dead".

I barely even noticed when something grabbed my wrist and abruptly yanked me to the side-knocking my feet out from under me and making my iPod sling across the dirt. I fell roughly to the hard ground, landing on my shoulder. I quickly rolled over onto my back, curious to see who-or what-had pulled me out of death's path. I looked up into the most gorgeous face I'd ever seen, with unfamiliar piercing green eyes.

"Who-what-where?" I stammered, trying to ask multiple questions at once, wondering who he was and where he came from, as there were only trees around us here.

"Are you all right," he asked. His face was hard, his eyes unreadable.

"Um yeah, I'm fine," I answered as he helped me to stand up. I brushed the grass and dirt off of myself. "Thank you," I said, bending down to grab my iPod from the ground.

"Who are you?" I asked, whirling back around to face him. But when I looked, there was no one there. I looked in every direction, but there was no sign of life other than the birds chirping in the trees. He must have run back into the woods while I was turned. Why would he do that though? I couldn't think of any logical reasons why as I kept walking toward the house. Once I walked into the house, I was greeted by my parents in the living room.

"Hey, honey. How was your day?" my mom asked as I walked in.

"Oh it was good. Set up graduation stuff at school, then movie day with Rose and Jasper."

"Good. There's lasagna in the fridge if you want it."

"Okay thanks." I said. I wasn't hungry at all as I walked up the stairs to my room. I grabbed some clean clothes and ran a hot shower, unknotting my muscles and trying not to think. I walked back into my room, closed the door, and crawled into the bed. I tried not to think about what just happened, but the realization of how close I had come to death set in. I closed my eyes repeating to myself "It was a dream, it was a dream," but I knew it wasn't true, no matter how many times I tried. After about two hours of this, I finally fell asleep thinking about those piercing green eyes that saved my life.

**Review...Please!  
~Kenzie =)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the characters! I don't...dang.**

**Here's Chapter 3! Enjoy!**

I woke up the next morning with an aching stiffness in my left shoulder. _What did I do this time?_ I asked myself. I pondered over that question for a few minutes, then all the memories from the previous day came rushing back at me like a truck speeding down the highway. I moved my hand along the sheets, searching for my phone until I found it. I needed to talk to Rose. Now. I checked my clock, making sure it was a decent time. I was surprised by how long I had been asleep. It was a quarter after ten. Oh well. I needed it.

I quickly dialed Rose's number, praying she was awake. "Please pick up, please pick up." I muttered to myself.

"Bella? You didn't call me! I was worried!" Rose's frantic voice picked up.

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm fine." All that happened was I came inches from death, I added mentally. "Can you come over? We need to talk, like now."

"Yeah, sure. Jazz is still asleep, so let me write him a note real quick. I'll be there in five." The line disconnected. I used the five minutes I had to put change out of my pajamas and sling my hair up into a ponytail. I wasn't very hungry, so I just grabbed a granola bar. By the time I finished, I could hear Rose pulling in the drive. I left the door unlocked so she could walk right in.

"Bella?" she called.

"Living room." I yelled back. She strode into the room plopping down on the couch beside me.

"What's up?" she asked. Needing no more encouragement than that, I launched into a full replay of last night, a look of horror on her face the whole time. Once I was finished, she was silent for a few seconds before she jumped off the couch and exploded, going from grief to anger to relief to confusion.

"Oh my gosh, Bella. I knew I should have driven you home last night! I just knew it!" she started. "And really, Bella? How stupid was that? When you are young, you are taught to look both ways before crossing for a reason! You are so dang lucky that guy was there to save your dumb butt! Where did he even come from anyway? But why did he run off like that? By your description he doesn't sound familiar…" She trailed off, seeming to be talking to herself toward the end.

"Are you done now?" I asked after a few moments of silence and watching her pace back and forth; apparently deep in thought.

"Yes, for the time being." She said, still thinking. I stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, letting her think, and trying to figure out who he was myself. Apparently I had begun thinking deeply, because I jumped when she spoke again.

"I got it!" Rose randomly yelled.

"What? What is it?" I jumped off of the couch, instantly curious.

"Lauren and Jessica! On the way to the gym yesterday! 'There was a new family moving here today'! That has to be it!"

"Rose you're a genius! Who knew that Lauren and Jessica would actually be good for something?" I said, happy to finally see a solution to at least a couple of my questions. Right then, I heard Rose's phone buzz.

"Hang on, it's Jasper." She walked out of the room for a couple minutes. "He's on his way over. I assume we tell him everything too?"

"Well yeah, I don't see why not." So once Jasper arrived, I went through the whole story again for him. I pretty much got the same little lecture again.

"That was really dumb, Bella. If whoever-he-is hadn't have been there, I don't even want to think about where we would be right now!"

"I know, I know. I won't do it again, mom." I said, teasing him slightly and trying to lighten the mood. It worked.

"So when my dad gets home I'll ask if he knows anything about this new family." I said.

For the rest of the day we pretty much just talked: Jasper asking me from which side my hero came from, trying to analyze around where he was walking, and Rose telling me to describe every little detail of what he looked like. It wasn't until around six 'o' clock when I heard the tires of either my dad's cruiser (he's the police chief) or my mother's Nissan (she's the town florist) pull into the drive. It turned out to be my mother.

"Hey kids, I'm going to start some supper. Rosalie? Jasper? Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Oh, thanks we would love to!" Rose replied, not even asking Jasper. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. He just shrugged.

About an hour and a half later, Rose, Jasper, Dad, and I were sitting in the living room waiting for mom to finish cooking. I decided it was time to ask dad about this new family.

"Hey dad? Have there been any new families moving in lately?"

"Uh, yeah, actually there has been one. The Cullen's. They moved in yesterday. Why?" I groaned inwardly. I was hoping he would just tell me what I wanted to know without having to pry, but I guess Charlie prefers to be difficult tonight. Yay me.

"We heard a couple of rumors yesterday at school. We also heard they had kids that would be at the high school next year."

"Also true. I think they said the kids' names were Alice, Edward and Emmett. The dad is a doctor. A brilliant one, too. Apparently they moved from San Francisco. Mrs. Cullen wanted to live in a small town." Aha! Mission accomplished. I glanced at Rose and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was; Jasper looked deep in thought again.

"Oh, I see now. Cool, I guess." I said, hopeful that I effectively ended the conversation.

"Dinner!" I Mom called from the kitchen before he could reply, saving me from him asking any more questions. The topic never came up again, leaving me to think.

"Bella, are you finished?" Rose asked me, disrupting me from my train of thought.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I replied, slightly pushing my plate away. Rose reached for my half-full plate to take it into the kitchen for me, obviously knowing I was feeling a little uneasy.

"Rose leave that. I'll clear everything up in a minute." Mom told her while gesturing to the plates in her hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Certainly."

"Thank you, Renee!" Rose grabbed mine and Jasper's hands and practically dragged us up the stairs.

"That has to be it!" She yelled once we shut the door. "So your guy's name is either Emmett or Edward…hmm…kinda old-school names…but I like it." I laughed at her.

"We are only about ninety percent certain that it was one of them. For all we know he could be some tourist passing through, or even some random hobo that was luckily taking a stroll through the woods!" I replied, though I didn't believe the words myself as they passed my lips.

"Oh come on, Bella. You, I, and even Jasper here knows none of that is true. Because for one, tourists would never come here, of all places. And second, if this guy is as hot as you say he is, there is NO WAY he can be a hobo." She could see in my eyes that I did not believe that he was a tourist or a hobo. I chose to be stubborn anyway.

"You don't know that."

"Yea, I kinda do. So once school comes around and your 'hobo' is there, not dressed like a hobo either, I will laugh in your face very loudly and be all 'I told you so' and you will be all 'Oh, Rose I should have listened to you! You were right the whole time and I will make you a pizza!' Ok, maybe not the pizza part but you know what I'm saying." Jasper and I looked at her with the most confused looks on our faces before we burst out laughing.

"Alright, Ms. Know-It-All. We'll just have to see what happens." I told her, rolling my eyes, but also praying to the heavens that she was right.

**Sooo...what did ya think? Let a girl know! Can I get at least 5-10 reviews by the time I upload again Saturday? Please? *Puppy Dog Face* Well I hope you like it! Now hit that 'Review' button down there!  
~Kenzie=)**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys...I gotta say I'm kinda sad. Only 1 review? C'mon I think y'all can do better than that! A girl needs motivation! But anyway, I know the chapters are starting out short, but they get longer, I promise. So without any more babbling...Chapter 4!**

August 31

One day left before school. Summer flashed by so quickly, it seemed like I missed it. It was great while it lasted though. The joys of doing absolutely nothing for nearly three months was absolutely amazing. Well, with the exception of one certain boy staying on my mind almost 24/7…

I haven't seen him since that day. I've seen the mother of the new family at the local supermarket a couple of times, but never got a chance to speak to her. She's a beautiful woman with wavy caramel colored hair and a kind, motherly face. I've also seen the doctor this summer, when I tripped and cut my arm on a nail. Yeah, I was a klutz that day. Go on and laugh. He's very handsome-like movie star/male model handsome. I also noticed the nurses concentrated more on him than they did their patients. But I haven't seen _him_ or even one of the other children. If the boy who saved me even is in that family.

I have been so on edge for school this past week. Always thinking, _"Will he be there?" "Will he remember me?" "If he does, will he acknowledge me?" "Will he act like he has never seen me before?" _I don't even know why I've been worrying so much about it. I keep telling myself it's because I never truly got to thank him, but I think I'm lying to myself. I think it runs deeper than that. "Crushing on a boy you've only seen once? Who you don't even know? Wow, Bella. Way to go." I talked to myself. All of a sudden I heard the shrill ring of my phone, making me jump. Had I mentioned I had become very jumpy too?

"Hey Rose." I said, flipping open the phone.

"Bella! We have less than twenty-four hours until we have to go back to that prison we call school! I need to go shopping which means you're coming with me!" She all but screamed into the phone.

"My last day of freedom and you are going to make me shop?" I groaned. "You are a terrible best friend." I added, changing to a more teasing tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that before. You have one hour to prepare yourself before my car is parked in your driveway. End of conversation. Bye!"

"Rose!" I yelled into the now empty phone. "Ugh." I groaned again. _"Oh suck it up, Bella," _I thought to myself, _"it will be a miracle if Rose ever lets you NOT shop." _With the now fifty minutes I had left I decided I had enough time for a quick shower. I let the hot water relax me and did not think a word about the next day. I rubbed a little makeup on my face, making me look a bit more presentable. Rose would be here in twenty minutes, so I ran downstairs and shoved a pop-tart in the toaster. I was just finishing my rectangle of sugary goodness when I heard tires pull into the drive.

"Time to face the music." I muttered to myself as I grabbed my purse and walked out the door. I climbed into the passenger seat, noticing Jasper wasn't in the car.

"Umm…where's Jasper?" I asked, wondering if she had accidently left him at home or something.

"Sleeping." She replied as we pulled out of the drive. "Way to greet your best friend by the way." She added. I decided to ignore the last part.

"Sleeping?" I asked, shocked. "But it's noon!" I had been awake since nine this morning. I was not a late sleeper, but I was certainly not an early bird.

"Yep! He said—and I quote—'I have one day left of sweet freedom. I believe I should spend this beautiful, rainy, free day doing something I love. Today—all day—I shall do the wonderful art of sleeping.' Then he bowed and walked to his room with his chin pointed toward the ceiling. I swear, he is one of the strangest people on earth."

I laughed. "Well he is a male," I pointed out, "and we are still unsure of where that foreign species came from."

"Very true my friend. Very true." She said in all seriousness. We were silent for a few seconds before we both burst into hysterics. Rose sped the car up a little as we made our way into Seattle.

Torture. That single word thoroughly describes the past few hours of my life. Constant trying on clothes and walking in and out of dressing rooms. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating things a bit. I didn't have to try on THAT many clothes, but enough for me to complain. I mainly just sat on the bench outside the many dressing rooms and say either 'yay' or 'nay' to Rose's very many outfits. If it was anyone else but Rose, I wouldn't ever be this considerate. Ever.

"Okay, Bella. I see your look of horror. How about we go grab a bite to eat then head on home." She said with a fake look of exasperation.

"Ah, Rose I will not ever be able to express how I dearly love my best friend!" I exclaimed, grateful to be able to go home.

"I took it easy on you today though! I barely made you try anything on!"

"Yeah whatever, let's just go home already."

"You party pooper." She finished, sticking her tongue out at me. I just rolled my eyes in return. We were our way out to the car when I could have sworn that I saw bronze hair out of the corner of my eye. Rare bronze hair. The kind of bronze hair that _he_ has. I did a double take but I didn't see anything of that color. If there even was anything there. I turned back around, telling myself I was going crazy and only hallucinating.

"Get ahold of yourself, Bella." I muttered to myself.

"What did you say?" Rose asked, apparently hearing me.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking aloud."

"Alright…." She dropped it, even though I could tell she didn't believe me. We climbed back into the car, my mind suddenly going a million miles a minute. I had managed not to think of him all day until now. Now I couldn't stop. _You're being really ridiculous, Bella, _my mind told me. _Quit being so obsessive. When—if—you see him again, you can tell him thank you and then you will be okay._ Half of me hoped he was some random person passing through, so maybe I could eventually get him off my mind. But the other half tirelessly hoped that he would be at school the next day, so I could thank him. Okay, okay, I also wanted to see that insanely gorgeous face of his but that was beside the point. That wild, bronze hair…those sharp, angular features…those deep, piercing, green eyes…

_Snap out of it, Bella!_ I chastised myself._ Quit thinking about him! _The rest of the ride home I kept Rose talking as much as possible to attempt to keep from thinking about him again. It worked…but then we got home.

I grabbed my bags out of the trunk and said goodbye to Rose. I pulled the key out from under the eave and unlocked the door, seeing my parents were not home. I waved again to Rose as I closed the door behind. I put my bags away then went to make supper for when my parents got home. I decided on lasagna. Unfortunately it only kept my hands busy, and since I was alone, it gave my mind an open invitation to begin thinking about him again. Oh joy.

I went to bed early, trying to make it easier on myself for the following morning. But I laid there for hours, unable to stop thinking about the following day. Would he be there or would he not? If he was would he pretend I don't exist or not? These same questions circulated in my head, and I conjured up probably fifty different ways tomorrow could go. I finally dozed around midnight.

My dreams were interrupted though by the consistent blare of my alarm clock, demanding my attention. I rolled over and knocked it off the table, shutting it up when it hit the floor.

I prepared myself for the day, increasingly growing more excited by the possibility of seeing Mr. Mystery today. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up, but that was just as likely as Rose never shopping again. I saw Jasper and Rose pull up to the house, right on time. I climbed in and we made our way to the school, Rose talking a thousand miles a minute. Once we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed an unfamiliar, shiny, silver Volvo parked. Wow, so these new kids must have some money on their hands. We went straight to the office to receive our new schedules.

Rose scanned both of our schedules, seeing what we had together. "We are only separated for 1st, 4th, and 6th period!" She said with a grin.

"Awesome! I replied, equally excited. That's much better than last year, where we only had two classes together. I noticed the bell was about to ring, and having no desire to be late to my first class of the year, I quickly told them bye and ran off to English. By the time I got there though, nearly every seat was filled. There was one around the center of the room, next to a girl I hadn't seen before. So this is the new girl huh? I went and sat down next to her.

"Hi, I'm Alice!" She exclaimed with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, I'm Bella." I returned her smile. She was very pretty, with alert green eyes and chin length, black hair that spiked out on the edges. "You just moved in a few months ago, right?" I asked trying to gain a new friend.

"Oh, yes we moved from Chicago. Mom wanted a small town." Ah, just like Charlie had said.

"Well that sounds cool. I just hope you like the rain, because you'll be seeing it a lot." I laughed.

She laughed a high soprano laugh. "It can't be worse than Chicago's wind. Wow, that stuff is bad!" I chuckled. I was about to reply but the teacher walked in, and I turned my attention to him for the time. _I think Alice and I could get along, and it seems she's the talkative type, which would suit Rose too…_ I thought to myself.

I hope we have more classes together!" Alice told me once class was over.

"Me too." I said genuinely. She grinned at me and bounded down the hallway.

The rest of the morning flew by easily. Alice hadn't been in any of my other classes so far, so I couldn't find her to see if she wanted to sit with us at lunch. Rose and I walked into the cafeteria and I scanned the room, looking for an empty seat. I stopped dead when I saw a tall figure enter from the other side of the room. He had that untidy bronze hair and those piercing green eyes. He was here. I had found him.

**A/N: Sooo...hit that button down there and tell me what you think! I'm open to any constructive criticism and suggestions! Hope you liked it!  
~Kenzie =)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters!**

**A/N: Well I don't have much to say today so…enjoy! The chapters are beginning to get longer!**

I reached to my left and grasped Rose's hand. "Rose," I whispered, "that's him. He's here." I nodded my head in his direction. He was still standing in the doorway, scanning the room.

"_That's him?_" She softly yelled. "Dang he's gorgeous!" I should've known that would be the first thing Rose would say.

"Tell me about it. But what do I do?" I had no idea why I was so freaked out about just seeing a guy. Granted, he did save my life, but still!

"Let him come to you, girl! Don't be chasing him, let it be the other way around!" Rose instructed. "Now quit worrying about him and come on!" She began to make her way to an empty table in the corner, every male eye following after her. I looked back toward the doorway, but he was gone.

"May I sit here?" I heard a tinkling voice say behind me. I turned around and saw the pixie-like face of Alice. I looked over at Rose and raised my eyebrows, silently asking if it was okay with her. She nodded slightly in agreement.

"Sure!" I smiled. She walked around to sit on my left. "We haven't met yet," she grinned, looking at Rose. "I'm Alice."

"I'm Rosalie, but just call me Rose. By the way, I absolutely love that outfit." Oh, yeah. I knew right then they were going to get along very well.

"Thanks! We should so go shopping together sometime!"

"That would be totally awesome!" Rose agreed. I could already see the gears turning in her head. Before they could drag me into this little trip, I stepped in.

"So, how's your first day been, Alice?"

"Oh, it's been alright I guess. People around here seem nice enough. Not many cute guys around here though, are there?"

"Tell me about it." Rose and I said simultaneously. "Don't you have a couple of brothers here too?" I asked, wanting to learn more about this boy.

"Oh yeah. Emmett is a senior and Edward is our age." Bingo! So his name is Edward….I like it. Old fashioned but I liked it. "Oh that's pretty cool." Rose replied. I looked up and saw Jasper making his way to where we were seated.

"First day of school and we are already being let out late." He sat down with a huff.

"Oh get over it, you big baby." Rose replied, rolling her eyes. She gestured to Alice. "Jasper, this is Alice. Alice, this is my older brother Jasper." They looked up at each other and both broke into wide grins. Rose and I exchanged a look. Uh-oh. Has our Jazzy found him a girl to crush on? I was going to have to have a talk with him later.

The rest of lunch was spent talking about classes and teachers we liked and disliked. Eventually, the bell rang though, warning us to get to class.

"What do you have next?" I asked Alice as we made our way to the hallway.

"Umm…gym." She replied, having to look at her schedule.

"Oh, me too!" Rose piped in looking excited.

"Shoot, well I have Biology, so I'll catch you guys later." I said, turning to walk the other direction.

"Bye!" I faintly heard them call behind me. I walked down the hall until I reached the Biology room. I walked to the desk in the middle, which was currently empty. There were still a couple of minutes until the bell rang, so I began to draw random loops and circles on a piece of paper.

"Mr. Cullen, you may take that empty seat over there, beside Ms. Swan." I heard Mr. Banner say. I looked up at the sound of my name and saw him—Edward—coming toward the desk I was sitting at. I quickly glanced around the room and saw that all the other seats were filled. Oh boy.

He pulled out the chair next to mine and swiftly sat down. I didn't even hear the teacher while a hundred thoughts went through my head, debating whether I should say something or not. _Stupid, Bella. Get ahold of yourself. It's not that hard to tell him thank you. _That's it. I would just tell him thank you and get on with things like normal. That seemed to be easier said than done, though.

"Thank you." I said, barely audible. Way to go, Bella. He glanced over at me.

"Pardon?" He asked, with a voice like velvet. Confusion was written on his face.

"Thank you." I repeated, a bit louder. His face was still confused.

"For what?"

"You saved my life. From a train." I explained, casting my eyes down. "I never got to say thank you."

"Oh. You're welcome." He turned back around to face the Mr. Banner and didn't look at me again.

~*MUH*~

I made it through the rest of the day easily. Alice, Rose, and I walked out toward the parking lot to wait for Jasper. I glanced over at Rose and gave her a look that said 'We need to talk'. She immediately understood and nodded.

"Well, it looks like Edward and Emmett are waiting for me, so I better go. See you guys tomorrow!" Alice chirped, then took off for the other side of the parking lot.

"I like her!" Rose said after Alice walked away.

"I do too. I have a feeling we'll all be good friends pretty soon."

"I'm cool with that." We both were laughing when Jasper finally made it to the car. He slumped into the front seat, looking exhausted.

"Tired, Jazz?" I teased.

"You have no idea. Being a senior is going to be hard work!" He gave me an exasperated look. I couldn't help it—I burst out laughing and Rose quickly joined in. Jasper glared at us and started the car.

"You two go ahead and laugh. We'll see who's laughing next year when I've graduated and you're complaining about your seniority!" He told us with a smirk.

"Oh whatever, because next year you'll be complaining about how hard college is!" Rose retorted. That wiped the smirk off of Jasper's face quicker than a bullet out of a gun.

"And Jasper, you seemed to be looking—well more like staring—at Alice all through lunch huh? Do we have a crush on Ms. New Girl?" I asked him, winking at Rose. I saw a blush creeping onto his face.

"No, I was not and I do not have a 'crush' on her. I don't even know the girl." He tried to defend himself.

"Alright, sure." We said, smirking but letting it drop. By now, we were pulling into my driveway.

"You guys staying for a while?" I asked before getting out of the car.

"I don't see why not." Jasper said while Rose nodded in agreement. They followed me into the living room where we plopped down onto the couch.

Without waiting for any invitation, I told them both every detail on what happened in Biology. Once I was finished, there was silence for a couple minutes.

"Weird." Jasper said at the same time Rose said, "Now I'm confused."

"So am I!" I flung my hands up in the air. "What am I going to do?"

"I don't know, Bella. Give it a couple of days and see what happens. He might have just been nervous to talk to you." Rose told me calmly.

"But why would he be nervous?"

"I don't know! I'm just giving suggestions here!"

"I know, sorry."

"It's ok, just calm down a bit."

"Not trying to break a moment here, but mom's going to be home early tonight, remember Rose?" Jasper broke in.

"Oh, shoot, I forgot. Alright, let's go. I'll call you later if I can, Bella." Rose called, heading toward the door.

Once they were gone, I went into the kitchen to fix supper for tonight, trying not to think of Edward Cullen. That wasn't working out for me very well though. When my parents got home we ate and had the normal, "How was your day" conversation before I excused myself and made my way upstairs.

"I was about to crawl into bed for the night when my phone started going off. I picked it up and saw Jasper's name flashing across the screen. _That's weird, _I thought to myself, _Jasper doesn't normally call me. _I hit the talk button anyway.

"What's up Jazz?"

"Can you talk for a few minutes?" He sounded oddly serious for once.

"Sure, something wrong?"

"No, not really. You know in the car earlier when you asked me if I had a so called 'crush' on Alice?"

"Uhh…yeah why?"

"Well…I kinda do like her a bit…and I was wondering if I should ask her out or not."

"Oh, Jazzy does have a crush! Does Rose know?"

"No, that's why I called you. And please don't tell her yet. But do you think I should?"

"Hmm….give me a day or so to see what she thinks of you and I'll get back to you on that. Oh, and I won't tell Rose. Not yet anyway."

"Thanks Bella," he sighed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"See ya." I hung up the phone and set it back down on the dresser.

_They would make a pretty dang cute couple…And this is the first time Jasper has expressed interest in a girl in a while…I hope something works out for them…if only I could have that kind of luck…_I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

~*MUH*~

1 Week Later…..

Jasper! Just ask her out already! It's not that hard!" I whisper-yelled at him. Why did he have to be so difficult?

"But what if she says no? Then I'll just look stupid!"

"She won't say no! Trust us on this." Rose told him with a pleading look.

"Okay, but if she does say no—you two are going to get it."

"Oh, whatever. Just go!" Rose gave him a slight push toward Alice's locker was. We watched and giggled quietly as we watched him lean against her locker, attempting to look cool. He stood there a few minutes looking around nervously until she finally walked over to him. Rose and I watched as they talked, anxious because we weren't close enough to hear. Jasper bent his arm while Alice grinned and slipped her arm through his. As they were walking away, Jasper put the arm that wasn't linked with Alice's behind his back and gave us a thumbs up sign.

"YES!" Rose and I yelled at the same time, giving each other a high-five.

~*MUH*~

"Here come the love-birds." Rose whispered as Alice and Jasper walked up to our table at lunch.

Rose gave Alice one of her serious looks. "You. Me. Bella. My house. Right after school. Got it?"

"Okay…" Alice said, slightly leaning away.

"Great!" Rose became instantly happy, changing topics. I looked up and saw none other than Edward Cullen walking toward a table where some other junior boys were sitting. He still pretty much ignored me during Biology, only speaking to me when we had to work together on something. I've told Rose that I'm over it, but on the inside, I'm really not.

I snapped out of it when I saw a huge, muscular guy walking toward our table. He tapped Alice on the shoulder and she jumped, slightly startled.

"Here's the rest of your money, Al." He said, handing a few bills over to Alice.

"Oh, I forgot. Thanks. Em, this is Bella, Rose, and Jasper." She pointed us all out in turn. "Guys, this is my other brother Emmett."

"Well, hello." He said pretty much only looking at Rose. Oh boy. Here we go again…..

~*MUH*~

"Alice! Would you please quit fidgeting and sit still! You are about to make me mess your hair all up!" Rose again yelled at Alice. We were sitting in Alice's bedroom getting her ready for her date with Jasper tonight. Well actually Rose got her ready and I just sat there and watched them with an amused grin on my face.

"I'm sorry! I'm just kinda nervous!" Alice yelled back at her.

"Well you still need to calm the heck down!" They were still arguing when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I slipped out the door unnoticed and hit talk.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bella."

"Oh, hey Jazz. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm just really nervous about tonight…."

"Just be yourself! As long as you be your generous, kind, cool self you'll be fine! Then you're gonna fall in love and get married and have pretty little babies!"

"Whoa there, Bells. One thing at a time. And thanks."

"You're welcome. Now hang up this phone, get your butt off the couch, and go get yourself ready! You have one hour!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going. Bye, Bella!" The phone clicked. _Oh, yeah. _I thought. _They are SO gonna get married!_

I walked back to the bedroom where Rose and Alice had finally stopped arguing. Alice was completely ready, with now ten minutes left until Jasper should be here.

_Ding-dong. _Rose looked at her watch. "Eight minutes early. He did good."

I laughed and handed Alice her purse. "You go get him girl."

She smiled and took a deep breath. We pushed her out the door then ran to the window to watch. Jasper offered his arm then opened the passenger door for her. Perfect! Rose and I exchanged high fives.

We went over to Rose's house to chill until Alice got back so we could hear how it went.

"So I saw you staring at Emmett pretty much all through lunch." I teased her. She blushed. Rosalie Hale actually blushed!

"Well can you blame me? He's hot!"

I laughed at her. "Whatever you say, Rose."

"Hey, any progress with Edward?"

"Nope, absolutely none. He does not talk to me unless he has to."

"Oh. Well things will work with you two. I promise." A mischievious smile creeped upon her face. "Speaking of Edward….I just remembered something.

I raised one eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

"Remember a few months ago when you thought he might've been a hobo and I said when we found out he wasn't a hobo that I would laugh in your face and tell you I told you so and you would kneel at my feet, say you were sorry and get me pizza?" She said with that grin getting wider and wider.

"Um Rose I don't think that's exactly how it went…"

"Oh well, I don't care. Go order my pizza while I go get my camera!"

I groaned and got off the couch, knowing she would get her way. By the time I got the pizza ordered, Rose came along the corner with her camera.

"Okay, Bella, come here." I rolled my eyes and made my way over to her. She began laughing creepily and yelled "I. TOLD. YOU. SO!"

"Now get down on your knees and say, 'I am sorry, oh great Rosalie! I will never doubt you again!'" I rolled my eyes again and did what she said, feeling extremely stupid the whole time.

"You know, I'm gonna make you do that again when you and Edward get married." She told me with a serious look.

"Sure Rose," I said sarcastically. "If I ever marry Edward Cullen I will gladly do that for you. And you will do it for me when you marry Emmett!"

"Okay, fine! You got yourself a deal!" She held out her hand and I shook it, confirming our deal. We had just sat down on the couch when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I scavenged it out and saw that it was Alice.

"Hello?"

"I'm home! Are you guys coming over?" The doorbell rang. Rose raised an eyebrow at me. 'Pizza.' I mouthed at her. Her face lit up like a child's on Christmas morning and she all but ran to the door.

"Of course! And we wanna hear _everything._ We'll be there in about five minutes okay?"

"Alright, alright, I'll be here." Click. I put my phone back in my pocket and shoved my shoes on. I heard Rose shuffling around in the kitchen.

"Rose! Put that pizza back in the box!" I yelled, knowing what she was doing.

I heard her groan and slap the pizza back down. "But Bella! I'm _hungry!_"

"So am I but you can wait until you get to Alice's! Now get your shoes on and let's go!" She groaned again and reluctantly put her shoes on and grabbed the box.

"Well if we're going let's go!"

We walked out to the car and I made Rose drive so she wouldn't start eating. We ran up to the door and pressed the doorbell at least ten times. It swung open revealing little Alice.

"Gosh you two. I heard you the first five times!" She scowled.

"Oh you'll get over it." I rolled my eyes, "Where's the rest of your family?" I asked, glancing around at the empty home. Oh I don't know some dinner or something. They won't be back for a while."

"Oh, okay cool." I was both relieved and disappointed that Edward wasn't there.

"Okay." Rose walked over to the couch with a piece of pizza in her hand. "Start talking, Alice."

"Alright, alright." She walked over to where Rose was sitting, with me in tow. She began a detailed description of the date, saying how Jasper was the perfect gentleman and he kept her laughing.

"We're going out again Sunday." She concluded, grinning from ear to ear. "I have a feeling this relationship will last…"

"You two are like perfect for each other! There's no way it couldn't last!" Rose yelled, finally done eating.

"Well, I sure hope that's true!"

"Oh it's true. I just know it." Rose told her while I nodded in agreement.

~*MUH*~

I woke up to the sun shining on my face for once. The sun hardly ever shines around here. I sat up and stretched, looking around. I was on the couch with Alice sleeping in the chair, and Rose out cold on the floor. How she ended up on the floor—I have no idea. I heard footsteps and looked up quickly, seeing none other than Edward Cullen walking down the stairs.

**A/N: Heh heh heh little cliffy! I must admit I'm a little dissapointed! This story has over 500 hits and nearly 200 visitors, but only two have reviewed! It only takes about a minute to tell me what you think! It makes my day! Literally! Well I hope you enjoyed and remember to hit that blue button down there!  
~Kenzie =)**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yes I know it's been like two weeks but I need more writing time! I don't have a bunch of motivation so I'm moving slower. Sorry! I know this chapter is short but they do get longer!**

Oh. Snap. Edward! He hadn't seen me because of the way the couch is angled to the stairs, so I dove back down pretending to still be asleep, accidently knocking my blanket off the couch. I didn't dare try to pick it up.

I listened to his footsteps come closer then stop. I opened my left eye just barely to see. He was looking over at the three of us but didn't seem to have noticed that I was actually awake.

Those beautiful green eyes flicked over to the couch where I was laying. I shut my eye quickly, hoping he didn't notice.

I heard footsteps again, but this time they were coming toward me and stopped next to me. _Oh crap he did notice! Way to go Bella._ I thought. I kept my eyes shut though. I heard a slight rustling then the fuzziness of the blanket being laid over me.

I inwardly gasped because of his care. _Oh big deal, _I told myself, _all he did was put the blanket back on you. Just being courteous. _It didn't make me any less happy though.

I listened as he walked away and waited a few seconds after he was gone until I decided it was time to "wake up". I groaned loudly and squinted, stretching out my arms and legs. I got up to go toward the kitchen where Edward was, but me being the idiot I am forgot Rose was sleeping in the floor. So I tripped over her legs and went flying toward the floor. I put my arms out in front of me to help break my fall and landed with a thud.

I groaned and rolled onto my back to attempt to get up. Rose amazingly was still asleep, but apparently I had woken Alice up with my noise.

"Whas goin on?" She slurred sleepily.

"Nothing, I just freaking tripped over Rose because she decided to sleep on the freaking floor."

"Well that's just awesome. I think I want some pancakes and orange juice. Want any?" She rolled over and stood up.

"Sure. Just don't forget the syrup!"

"I wouldn't dream of it!" She walked into the kitchen. I lazily dragged myself off the ground and followed her. As I walked in, Edward was walking out.

"Edward, do you want any pancakes?" Alice asked him before he was fully out the door.

"No thanks. I'm gonna get something later." He walked out the door, letting it swing shut. Alice sighed.

"Edward seems so different from you and Emmett." I told her, question in my tone.

"I know. It's not always been that way. Edward's just had some troubles in the past."

"Like what?" I asked, instantly curious.

"I'm sorry, Bella. But it's not my story to tell." She said with a look of regret. A look that said she wished she hadn't have said anything.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but the door swung open. Rose walked in with her hair in a mess—a truly frightening sight.

"Was for breafas?" she said, still looking half asleep.

"Pancakes." Alice told her, grinning.

"Oh yummy. I want syrup!"

"I know, I know. Calm down."

"I'll calm down when I get food." Rose told her matter-of-factly. I laughed at them. Alice looked over at me.

"Is she always like this?"

"Always." I replied sympathetically.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Lucky us." She said sarcastically.

"I can hear you, ya know." Rose glared at us.

"Oh yeah, we know." Alice replied.

The door swung open again. "The party has arrived ladies!" Emmett's booming voice yelled. "Ooohh pancakes. Will you fix me some of that Shortie?" Alice rolled her eyes and put another pancake on the skillet. "Hey Belly Bean. Whoa, Blondie. What happened to your head?"

"Whoa, Emmett. What happened to your face?" Rose retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

He laughed. "My face? Oh, it got prettier!"

She snorted. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Oh I sleep wonderfully." Emmett replied still grinning.

"Breakfast is ready!" Alice called, ending their argument. We ate in comfortable silence. Once we were all finished we gave Rose a mirror so she could see her hair. Needless to say she screamed and ran out the door, while we were about to die laughing. Emmett was literally on the floor laughing at her expression.

Once we had composed ourselves and Rose was still off doing whatever, I looked over at Emmett.

"Dude, you should so ask Rose out. You two would be awesome together." I told him.

"Once she fixes that hair of hers, I just might."

"Really?" I asked, kind of surprised. He was a lot easier than Jasper.

"Sure. She's my type of girl."

The door opened and Rose came in, looking considerably better. Emmett walked up to her and looked her straight in the eye. "Rosalie, will you go out with me?"

"Sure!" She replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"You. Me. Eight tonight?"

"Sure thing."

He grinned. "Now ladies if you would excuse me, I have some things to get done." He walked out the door. Rose and Alice squealed and started jumping up and down. They abruptly stopped.

"SHOPPING!" They both yelled at the same time. Oh no. Please no. Not shopping.

"Bella, go get dressed. You have fifteen minutes. You don't have to try on anything. Just approve Rose's outfits!" I grumbled and headed upstairs to change before those shopping freaks dragged me away.

~*O*~

Oh. My Gosh. If I thought shopping with Rose was bad, shopping with Alice AND Rose was just plain torture.

"Oh come on, Bella. Cheer up! It wasn't that bad. We didn't even make you do that much." Alice told me once we were at Rose's.

"Sure, sure. I don't understand how you people enjoy doing that stuff."

"Oh it's fun! Enough of that! We got to get Rose ready!"

The next three hours was full of yells, squeals, and laughter. Yeah, that's right. I said it took three HOURS for Rose to get ready. It barely takes me thirty minutes. At exactly eight the doorbell rang. I ran down to answer it while Alice made sure Rose was perfect.

"Hey Emmett. She'll be right down."

"Hey Jelly Bean. I am so ready for this. She's gonna be mine."

"Oh I know. You two are gonna be great together."

"I hope so….holy crap." His mouth dropped open as Rose came down the stairs. I stifled a giggle.

"Em, shut your mouth. You'll catch flies." I told him, giggling just a bit. He snapped his mouth shut and offered Rose his arm. Perfect.

"You look beautiful." He told her.

She looked down blushing. "Thank you."

"Okay lovebugs!" Alice said shooing them out the door. "Off you go!"

He led her out the door while Alice and I watched them get in the car and drive off. Great. All my closest friends have a boyfriend/girlfriend and I'm still single.

Lucky me.

**There ya go! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter for some reason! Thanks to those that R&R, you guys are just awesome! So please make me even happier and click that button down here that says 'Review this Chapter'! ;). Love ya'll!  
~Kenzie **


	8. Chapter 7

~*EPOV*~

"EDWARD! DINNER!" I heard my mother yell from downstairs. We had just arrived in Forks this morning and I've been unpacking all day. I was hungry, cranky, and very exhausted. I dragged myself down the stairs and into the dining room. My brother, Emmett, and sister, Alice, were already there.

"How much do you kids have unpacked?" Mom asked as I sat down.

"I just have some clothes left, then I'm finished!" Alice's high voice sang. She enjoyed getting things done and getting them done quickly.

Emmett just scoffed. "I have like everything left!" Mom just shook her head at him then looked over at me.

"I don't have too much left." I said flatly. After that, there was really no other conversation as we ate. I finished quickly and stood up.

"I'm gonna go out. Get some air."

Dad sighed. "Alright, just be careful. Keep your phone with you."

I just nodded as I grabbed my jacket and walked out the front door. There were trees completely surrounding the house in every direction. I looked to the left and saw a faint trail leading into the woods, so I decided to take it. I walked a little ways, complete silence other than the birds and my thoughts. I tried my hardest not to think of _her. _

I was still walking when the trees broke apart. There was a railroad stretching to the north then trees again. I looked over to my right and saw a girl step out of the trees. I was surprised to see anyone else out here. She didn't notice me and kept walking toward the tracks.

I heard a very loud roar that could only mean one thing: a train. I called out to the girl, but she didn't acknowledge that she'd heard me and walked closer to the tracks.

I didn't even think about it. The only thing running through my head was one word: _No. _I broke into a sprint toward her, seeing that she was oblivious to the train that seemed to be coming our way. She stepped onto the tracks, then finally looked up. By now it was roughly eighty yards away from her, and coming quickly.

She stared right at it. Didn't move an inch. I moved faster. When it was about twenty yards away from her, I grabbed her wrist and roughly pulled her off the track. I staggered backwards and she flew to the ground, landing hard on her shoulder.

She rolled over and I saw her face. Really saw her. She had a pretty heart-shaped face, framed by beautiful brown hair. And her eyes. _Her eyes. _They were a gorgeous deep brown. Just like melted chocolate. She also gave a resemblance to _her._

"Who—what—where?" She stammered with a melodic voice. I snapped out of it. I ignored her questions and got straight to the point.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, offering my hand to help her stand.

"Um yeah, I'm fine." She had turned slightly to brush herself off and I couldn't help it. I ran. As I hit the trees I'm ninety percent sure I heard her say "Thank you."

I ran back the way I came, never slowing down, her face running through my thoughts the whole time. I finally made it home, slamming the door to signal I was home. I made my way up the stairs but stopped next to mom and dad's door.

"I don't know, Carlisle. I was hoping that moving here would help him get away from her and move on. To help us all move past what happened."

"I know. But, Esme, you can't expect someone to change in a night. He needs more time. It hit him the hardest."

I walked away. I didn't want to hear anymore. I went into my room and shut the door. I looked around at the unpacked boxes. I decided to just ignore them. I had thankfully already unpacked my music, so I turned it on and let the sounds of the piano drift through my ears.

I fell asleep that night to her face swimming through my thoughts

~*O*~

~*1st Day of School!~*

My first day at Forks High School. Yay me. I asked mom if I could just be homeschooled but she said no. Apparently I wouldn't take it seriously and I needed to 'socialize with others'. Okay, sure.

I walked into the front office with Alice and Emmett to get our schedule. Alice and I only had two classes together, much to her disappointment.

I bid them goodbye and began to walk down the hallway to my first class when I was stopped by some fake-looking blonde. Oh, great.

"Hey! You're new right? My name's Jessica." She said, with a wink. Ew.

"Yeah. Edward." I just kept my face blank, hoping she'd go away. No luck. She seemed totally unfazed.

"So what do you have first?"

"Government."

"Oh, me too!" She ripped my schedule out of my hands. Rude much? "We have the same classes except for Biology and Gym!" She grinned excitedly and I inwardly groaned. Could this get worse?

That question was answered about five seconds later, when another blonde came running up, calling for Jessica. Yes, it could get much worse.

"C'mon, Jess, let's go—oh hi! I'm Lauren."

"Edward." I nodded, praying that they'd just ignore me. Nope. They talked all the way to class while I just zoned out. They never noticed.

By the time lunch came around I just wanted to go home. I walked into the cafeteria and looked around when I saw a pair of brown eyes looking at me. It was her. The train girl. Her eyes flashed from me to the girl next to her, then back to me.

Jessica came up behind me and tore my gaze from her. Before I had the chance to look back, I was being led to a table, and introduced to everyone there.

I didn't bother to try to remember their names.

I just stared at her off and on the whole lunch hour, until whoever was sitting beside me shook me and said the bell had rung. I had already gotten the overall layout of the school—it wasn't too hard, being so small—so I could manage to get around on my own now. I walked to the Biology room to find it nearly full.

I walked up to the teacher to get the introduction I really didn't want to have.

"Mr. Cullen, you may take that empty seat over there, beside Ms. Swan." I looked around for the seat he was talking about and I found it. It was the seat right next to her. Train girl.

Great.

I walked over to the table and glanced at her. As soon as I met her eyes she looked at the desk. A million different emotions were shooting through me. Intimidated by her beauty. Frightened and saddened by how much this girl looked like _her. _The urge to talk to her, but the instinct to stay back.

I snapped out of it when I could've sworn she said something.

"Pardon?" I asked, looking over at her.

"Thank you." She replied, softly but audibly. She had a beautiful voice. A voice like honey. I chose to play dumb and put a confused look on my face.

"For what?"

"You saved my life. From a train." She cast her eyes down, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Oh. You're welcome." I said, sounding like an idiot. I turned back to Mr. What's-His-Name and attempted to pay attention the rest of class, trying not to say anything else stupidly. I won't risk getting close to another girl. Not right now.

I won't.

~*O*~

My mind was in a frenzy for the next little while. Intrigued by this girl—Bella, I found her name was—but also afraid to talk to her. To know her. To become attached.

I feel something when I'm around her. Like I enjoy her presence or something. Being around her is becoming more frequent now that she's one of Alice's best friends now.

My parents, Emmett, and I had just gotten home from some sucky dinner with some of Mom and Dad's new friends when I walked into the living room to find Alice, Bella, and a girl named Rosalie asleep.

I wouldn't allow my eyes to linger on Bella any more than that so I quickly ran upstairs into my room. I threw on an old t-shirt and sweats and climbed into the bed, first stopping to turn on my stereo. I needed the music.

I woke up to the sound of rain outside, realizing quickly that I had fallen asleep and the stereo was still playing softly.

I debated going downstairs to get something to eat, remembering that Bella was down there. My stomach told me to go, but what if I ran into her? Can you say kinda awkward?

_Oh, man up, Edward. She's just a girl. _I told myself, not wanting to be a coward. I started for the stairs quietly. I stopped, listening for noise. I heard nothing, taking it as a green light.

I walked down into the living room. My eyes betrayed me and looked over at Bella, asleep still on the couch. A blanket was in the floor beside her. I again debated with myself, not wanting to wake her but also not wanting her to be cold or uncomfortable.

The more courteous side of me won. I walked over to the couch, gently picking the blanket up and setting it over her body. She looked so peaceful. So beautiful.

"_No, Edward. No." _My mind told me. I turned away from her and walked into the kitchen. I took a couple of pop-tarts out of the cabinet and sat down.

A couple minutes later I heard a small thud and some murmuring from the living room. My cue to leave. I shoved the last of the pop-tart in my mouth and stood up as Alice walked in, swinging the door open roughly.

I nodded toward her and made my way toward the door.

"Edward, do you want any pancakes?" She asked me sleepily.

"No, thanks. I'm gonna get something later." I lied as I pulled the door open, coming face to face with Bella. I slightly nodded at her and walked past.

I walked a couple steps into the living room then turned back around, remembering my phone was in the kitchen. I stopped in front of the door when I heard that honey voice speaking.

"Edward seems so different from you and Emmett." I heard her say, with a hint of question in her tone.

"I know. It's not always been that way. Edward's just had some troubles in the past." Alice replied. I leaned closer to hear better.

"Like what?" Bella asked. Well someone is nosy. I was kind of shocked that she cared enough to wonder though.

Alice didn't reply for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Bella. But it's not my story to tell." I heard a groan behind me and realized Rosalie must be waking up.

I quickly walked to the stairs without her noticing and took two at a time. I ran into my room where there was still the sound of a piano drifting around the room from the stereo. I laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, trying not to think about the beautiful, brown-eyed girl just a floor below me.


	9. Chapter 8

**~*BPOV*~**

"Rose, what are you doing tonight?" I asked her, trying to figure out what _I _was going to do tonight. We were on our way home from school and I didn't want to spend my Friday night bored and alone. Can you say loser?

"Um….Jazz, was tonight the night mom wanted to have her 'family bonding'?" She glanced in the mirror at Jasper who was in the backseat messing with his iPod.

"What day is it?" He asked, looking at us with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Friday." I answered before Rose could.

"Yeah, tonight's the night. She said it's her boss's anniversary or something and he was letting everyone off early." He grinned, obviously proud that he was being helpful. Dork.

"Oh. Well there's your answer. Sorry, Bella." She looked at me with a slightly sympathetic look.

"Don't worry about it." I assured her. "I'll just see what Alice is up to tonight."

"Alrighty then." She said as we were pulling into my driveway. "I'll call you later though."

"That's fine," I replied as I opened my door and put one foot out of the car. "I'll see you later." I turned to say goodbye to Jasper but he had his eyes closed and headphones in, so he wouldn't have heard me anyway. I just grinned and stepped out into the slight drizzle.

It wasn't until I was almost to the front door that I noticed both of my parents' cars were here. My mom normally has Fridays off, but my dad must have somehow managed to get off early.

I unlocked the front door and stepped into my warm home, hanging my jacket and bag on the pegs just inside the door. I walked into the kitchen, expecting to find my mother cooking, but finding only an empty room staring back at me. I shrugged and turned to begin making my way up the creaky stairs leading to my bedroom. My foot had just stepped through the doorway when I heard muffled voices come from my parents' room. Sheer curiosity—and nosiness—turned my feet around and led them to stand outside their door.

"Why, Renee?" My father's voice sounded….somewhat tearful. That's strange. My dad NEVER cries.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I just can't do this anymore." I was confused. Do what anymore?

"Well, what about Bella? Did you think about her at all doing this?" I knew my dad had been crying now, by the choked up sound he was making. But I was curious as to how I was brought into this. I was also scared to find out, though.

"Um…" I could hear her hesitation. "Well, I was kind of hoping she would come with me…" What?! Go with her?! I don't want to go anywhere.

"What?! You leave me and decide you want to take her too? What if she doesn't want to go with you, Renee? This is her home." Divorce. That's what this is. She's leaving him. And wants me to go too.

Without my permission, a choked sob escaped my mouth. Afraid they heard me, and not wanting to face them, I turned and ran back down the stairs, grabbing my jacket, bag, and keys before running out into the pouring rain without a second thought, letting the door slam shut behind me. I climbed into my old truck and turned the key, hearing the engine roar. If they somehow hadn't heard me before, they certainly had now.

In a split second decision, I made my way toward Alice's house, deciding it was closest. I made it to her driveway before what just happened really sank in and the floodgates opened. I parked my truck and ran to their front door, ringing the bell probably five times in two seconds.

The door swung open to reveal none other than Edward. I watched his expression turn from grinning to startled when he saw me standing there in his doorway—face red and puffy, soaking wet, probably looking as attractive as a drowning cat.

"Bella, are you—uh—I," he sighed. "Alice is in her room." He stepped aside hastily to let me in. I nodded in thanks and ran up the stairs, trusting my feet to take me where I wanted to go.

I threw Alice's door open, not even thinking about courtesy at the moment. I apparently frightened her with the noise, as when I came in, she jumped a foot into the air. Her first frightened face turned into worry as she saw me. She jumped off her bed and came to give me a hug, despite me being soaking wet and she not even knowing what was wrong.

"A-Alice, I'm getting you all wet." I told her in a shaking voice.

"I don't care. I can change clothes. What happened?"

"Um, can you call Rose first and ask her to come? I'd rather just explain all at once." She was nodding her head before I even finished talking.

"Of course. Now you go in the bathroom and dry off, take a shower, whatever. I'll bring you some clothes."

"Thanks, Alice. Oh, and could you ask Rose to bring my backpack? She'll know what you're talking about." She nodded and walked out the door. Rose and I keep backpacks at each other's houses filled with clothes and other necessities in case of random sleepovers, such as this.

I walked into the bathroom across the hall and turned on the shower. I let the hot water run over me, unknotting my neck and back. I stepped out and washed my face off, removing all traces of tears and puffiness. I picked up my backpack that Rose must have brought in when the water is too loud to hear. I must have been in the shower longer than I thought.

I walked back across the hall into Alice's room to see Alice and Rose sitting on the bed talking. They both looked up when I walked in.

"Do you feel better now?" Alice asked me. I nodded and they waved me over to sit on the bed.

"You wanna talk about it?" Rose put her hand on my arm, an unconscious gesture she always did when she was worried.

I shrugged, but launched into a total replay of this afternoon—beginning when Rose left my driveway and ending with me bursting into Alice's room. They didn't say anything through my story, their facial expressions changing from curious to puzzled to sad to horrified.

"What are you gonna do?" Alice asked quietly after a few moments of silence.

"I'm gonna stay." I replied confidently. "I'm not gonna leave my home, and you guys, and I'm not gonna let her leave my dad with nobody. I love my mom and all but I'm not going to let her take me from my life." Suddenly I felt a wave of independence wash over me—mixed with a little shock over my little speech.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Nobody should have to go through this. A divorce and her wanting you to move.." Rose wrapped her arm around me before sighing with a shake of her head.

"It'll be okay." I replied. And for now, I was confident it would be okay. "Can we do something though? I'm tired of thinking about it." They both nodded, grins slowly spreading across their faces.

~*O*~

Countless hours and multiple movies and laughs later, I was still awake, unable to sleep. Rose and Alice were asleep next to me.

By the way looked—and sounded—a tornado could rip through here and they still would be asleep.

Not wanting to think about my parents at the moment, my thoughts drifted to Edward. I began to wonder what he was really going to say when he opened the door for me earlier. _Oh, don't get ahead of yourself, Bella. _I chided myself. _He probably just would have asked if you were okay, like any other normal person would. _

There really was no reason to go off into fantasy land just because he was going to ask me if I was okay. What good is it to torture myself with thoughts of something that would probably never happen? I huffed and rolled over, happily falling asleep to the image of Edward's beautiful face in my head.

~*O*~

I woke up the next morning smiling from a good night's sleep. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked around the large bedroom to see Alice and Rose still sleeping soundly. I continued just lying there for a few minutes internally debating whether I wanted to get up or make an attempt to go back to sleep.

I was still thinking when I noticed the soft music floating through the air. Puzzled, I looked around for the source but came up empty. Curiosity got the better of me though, so I gently rolled off the bed—even though I knew it wouldn't wake Alice and Rose up.

I stood in the doorway for a few seconds trying to decide which direction the music was coming from. My senses told me it was coming from the third floor. I silently walked over to the second set of stairs so I wouldn't disturb anyone. Stopping to listen again, I knew for sure the music was coming from upstairs. I climbed up slowly and shockingly, they didn't creak under my feet. At least not loud enough to be noticed.

At the top there were only three doors. Two were closed tightly, but the third was slightly opened with a strip of light forcing its way out. I creeped up to the door and peeked inside, careful not to touch it.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was certainly not what I saw.

There was a magnificent, grand, black piano sitting in the middle of the room, music softly drifting from it. But what really surprised me was seeing Edward seated behind it, his fingers seeming to drift over the keys. From the angle I was standing, it looked like his eyes were closed.

The melody he was playing I didn't recognize, but it was beautiful. I laid my head against the doorway, letting the music cloud my mind.

I must have started to doze because the next thing I know, the music stopped and footsteps were walking toward the door, growing louder with every step. Before I could even think "I'm screwed" the door was opening to reveal a gorgeous, slightly disheveled face.

He took one look at me, rubbed his eyes, and looked at me again. If I wasn't panicking and trying to figure out an escape route out of this, his double-take might have been amusing.

"Um…can I help you?" he asked in a polite yet confused manner, obviously lost for words in the total weirdness of this situation.

"I—um—I just heard you playing and I—uh—was curious." I stammered, barely managing to get the words out. I felt—and probably looked—like a complete moron. No, I take that back. A stalkerish moron.

"Yeah—so—I'll just—go now." I turned around to go back to Alice's room, but I didn't get very far. When I whirled around, I managed to get my feet tangled in a rug beneath me. I fell head-first, successfully banging my head on the small table sitting in the hall.

"Ow! Crap!" I exclaimed. I was now totally and completely mortified.

"Are you okay?" Edward stepped over the now bunched up rug to stand by me, holding out his hand to help me up. I nodded and took it gratefully, feeling an electric shock run up my arm when I did. Did he feel that too? Or am I going crazy?

He helped me stand and slowly let me go. His arms hovered around me, apparently expecting me to fall back down.

He was right.

I became dizzy and vaguely felt my feet start to go out from under me. Only this time I didn't hit the ground. Edward's arms caught me, this time not letting me go quite yet. I was okay with that.

"Okay, I think we should try to get you downstairs." I swear I heard amusement in his voice. Glad he thought it was funny. I found it absolutely humiliating.

He helped me make it down the two flights of stairs and onto the couch without any more injuries.

"You don't have a concussion or anything do you?" He asked, sounding slightly…worried? _It's just because he doesn't want to be burdened with having to get you to a hospital when he probably has better things to do. _I told myself this before I could get my hopes back up that he actually might care.

I nodded. "Trust me, if I had a concussion, I would've passed out. I know from experience."

He laughed. He had such an amazing laugh. "I'll be right back. Try not to hit anything else while I'm gone." He chuckled again, and I shot him a glare even though I was grinning like a fool on the inside. He turned and walked through the door leading into the kitchen.

I sighed and looked around the empty room when a piece of white on the floor caught my eye. I carefully bent over and picked it up. It turned out to be a folded piece of paper that I assumed fell out of Edward's pocket when he helped me onto the couch.

I unfolded it to see it was a piece of sheet music. What got me though was the title of the piece: 'Tanya'.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Tanya? Here I was, constantly daydreaming about this boy while he's been thinking about other girls! Could this morning get any worse?

Before I could dwell on it too long though, Edward came back through the door holding an icepack and a glass of water.

"Thank you." I said gratefully. I took a sip of the water, surprised at how thirsty I was.

"You're welcome." He sat down in the chair next to the couch.

"I didn't recognize the song you were playing." I said totally out of the blue. Way to be random, Bella.

"That's because I wrote it." He replied, not in a rude way. I almost spit out my water.

"You wrote that?! Wow, you're good…" I trailed off, in awe of his skill. Edward just didn't strike me as the piano type.

He chuckled. "Thanks. I've been playing for as long as I can remember really." His eyes looked like he was off in another world.

"Well then, I'm guessing this belongs to you." I extended my arm in his direction, the folded paper in my hand.

"Yeah, thanks. It must have fallen out of my pocket." He took it, his fingers lightly brushing mine. We sat there silently for a few awkward seconds.

"Who's Tanya?" I blurted, the words coming out of my mouth without my permission. I mentally slapped myself in the forehead. How stupid could I be?

I saw his eyes darken and his jaw tighten. I've stepped over the line. Screwed up. Bigtime.

"Nobody." He didn't look at me and fixed his eyes on something else. Dear life, when I asked if my day could get worse, I didn't mean for you to take it as a challenge.

Thank goodness Alice decided to come downstairs only a few seconds later.

"Has anybody made breakfast?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep.

"Um, no we just got down here." I answered since Edward gave no signs of answering.

"Bacon and eggs it is then!" She proclaimed, heading straight toward the kitchen. "How many eggs, Bella?"

"Just one." I answered quietly. I noticed Edward's jaw had relaxed, but he still didn't look at me.

"How about you, Edward?" Alice called over the clanging noise she was making in the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry. Thank you though." He called back and stood up, walking straight up the stairs.

Once he was out of sight I groaned and put my head against the back of the couch. I stayed in that position for a few minutes before I decided to get up. I grabbed the now warming icepack and stood up, keeping still until I was certain my head was fine and I wasn't going to get dizzy. I walked into the kitchen, immediately assaulted by the heavenly smell of food. I set the icepack back into the freezer.

"Why did you have an icepack?" Alice asked as she was flipping bacon, one eyebrow raised.

"Long story. I'll explain later." She nodded and let it go, but not before giving me a look that said 'You _will_ tell me'. I sighed. I'm not getting out of this one.

"Anything I can do to help?" I wanted something to distract me from thinking about Edward and this morning, even if only temporarily.

"Actually you can go get Rose up and tell her breakfast is ready." I nodded, accepting my task, and walked upstairs. When I got to the second floor, I looked around to make sure Edward wasn't in sight. Once the coast was clear, I made my way over to Alice's room.

I quietly opened the door to find Rose sprawled out across the bed, still sleeping like a rock. Not wanting to let the moment pass, I tip-toed over to my bag and carefully dug out my phone. I walked over next to the bed, making sure I had a good view. I snapped a picture and giggled quietly.

I returned my phone to my bag and leaned over to shake Rose lightly.

"Roooose. Wake uuuuup." I said in a sickly sweet voice. She mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over.

"I have breakfast downstairs…" If nothing else, the mention of food would always wake her up. She sat straight up.

"Okay, I'm awake." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and jumped off, heading straight to the door. I laughed. It's amazing what the mention of food could do to people.

I followed her into the kitchen, where Alice was moving eggs around in a pan.

"So where's the rest of your family?" I asked pretty much just making conversation.

"Um, Dad should be at work, Mom said something about going to look at an old house to restore, and—oh shoot! I forgot about Emmett!"

"I think you made enough for him to eat too." I said, looking at the bunch of eggs in the pan.

She looked at the food. "Yeah, I guess so. There were still two eggs in the carton so I just said 'What the hey' and fixed them too."

"Well then it all works out fine. Everybody has enough." I went to the fridge and pulled out some orange juice while Alice dug around for another plate. Rose just sat at the table watching us, the sudden burst of energy apparently vanished from her system.

"Do you all mind to go wake Emmett up? I'll fix everybody's plate." I nodded and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her out of her chair and to the door.

"Oh, wait!" We froze. "Here, take this." Alice handed Rose a glass of water.

"What's this for?" Rose asked.

"If all else fails, dump it on his head." She turned back to the food, grinning.

We went upstairs, heading toward Emmett's room. Before we got there though, Rose detoured into Alice's room.

"Rose! Wrong room!"

"I know," she came back out into the hall, waving her phone around, "I wanted to film it." She grinned.

I shrugged, also grinning, and we took off down the hallway, now really going to his room.

"Stop!" I said as we reached the door. She froze. "Go ahead and turn the camera on." She fumbled with her phone a bit, then nodded.

We quietly opened the door, leading into the dark room. There was just enough sunlight coming through the window for us to see and film. I tip-toed over to him and shook him like I did Rose. Not a thing.

Rose scoffed. "Here, take this." She handed me her phone, and walked over to the edge of the bed where Emmett was snoring. She looked at me and winked before holding the glass of water about a foot over Emmett's head. She flipped it over before quickly jumping out of the way, the water splashing across Emmett's face.

"Edward, I'm gonna KILL YOU!" Emmett yelled, jumping off the bed, soaking wet. Rose and I were doubled over laughing from the expression on his face.

"Rosie? Jelly Bean? Why?!" His startled face turned into a pout when he noticed it wasn't Edward. He attempted to wipe of his face with a blanket.

I finally composed myself before Rose could and attempted to answer. "We came to tell you breakfast is ready, and you wouldn't wake up."

"Whatever! I'm gonna go get the food I deserve." He moped out the door. Rose and I were still giggling.

"C'mon, Em! Don't be mad!" Rose followed him out the door, still trying to maintain her laughter.

"You dumped water on my head!" He called back from downstairs.

"You wouldn't wake up! Desperate times call for desperate measures!"

"That doesn't mean you had to dump _water_ on my _head_!"

"Whatever! Shut up and eat your eggs!" We had now made it down to the kitchen by now, where plates of food were waiting for us.

Emmett huffed and turned to his food. I laughed and grabbed a plate with Rose and Alice. We ate in a silence for a while, devouring the food in front of us. Emmett finished first and stood up. He shoved his empty plate in the sink before walking to the door.

"If you will excuse me, I shall go take a well-deserved nap." He raised his chin and walked—more like strutted—out the door.

"He's not really mad is he?" Rose asked Alice as we went into the living, looking worried.

"Nah. Just give him some sleep. He'll be fine." Rose nodded, looking relieved. Alice looked over at me. "Now, Bella, would you like to explain the ice-pack?"

I pretended to consider it for a minute. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks though."

"Mhm. Try again." Alice gave me the look, while Rose just looked confused.

I sighed and plopped down on the couch. Knowing they were going to pry it out of me anyway, I told them everything that happened this morning, leaving out the whole Tanya part. I thought they were going to choke, they were laughing so hard about me hitting my head. Apparently I'm the only one who didn't find it funny.

Once the laughter finally died down, Alice looked at me seriously. "Bella, do you like my brother?"

"What?! What gives you that idea?!" I tried, but I could feel the heat creeping into my cheeks, giving me away.

"Bella, you look like a tomato. You do, don't you?

"Okay, so maybe I do! What does it matter anyway? He's into some other girl." I mumbled the last part.

"Some other girl? What are you talking about?"

I ended up telling them the other half of the story. Alice's laughter faded quickly and she had a serious look on her face. Rose still just looked confused. I was right there with her.

"Oh, Bella. Tanya isn't some girl he likes." Alice told me gently.

"Then who is she?"

She hesitated. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I want to but I can't. I promised. If you want to know, Edward will have to tell you. I can't do it. I'm sorry." She told me quickly. I felt my face fall. I felt half relieved, half sad. Relieved because I now have another chance, sad because it seemed so serious and, well, sad.

"Oh. I understand. I still don't see why it matters though. Why would he like me? I'm so…plain."

"Oh, Bella, stop that. You're beautiful. Trust me. You're my friend, I wouldn't lie to you." Rose nodded in agreement.

"You're my friends, you have to say that." I mumbled.

"Well, believe me or not, you shouldn't give up on him. Edward deserves somebody like you." She said, actually seeming genuine.

"Thanks…I think." I laughed, but that turned quickly into a groan.

"What's wrong?" Alice and Rose asked at the same time.

"I have to go home." I told them while standing up. "As much as I don't want to, I'm gonna have to face it sometime. Why not now and get it over with?"

I had hoped they would be like 'Stay, and give it a little more time', but no. They just nodded in agreement. I sighed and went upstairs to change and get my stuff.

Once I was ready, I slowly went back down the stairs. "Here goes nothing." I said to no one in particular. I hugged Alice first, as she was closer.

"Expect me back later." I told her. She laughed and nodded.

"You're welcome anytime." She responded. I went to Rose and hugged her too.

"Good luck, Bella. Call me whenever." She encouraged. I nodded.

"Trust me, I will." I smiled at her and turned toward the door. I waved and shut the door behind me as I walked out. It wasn't raining yet, but there were clouds overhead. Strangely fitting to the situation.

I climbed in my old truck and turned the key, letting it roar to life before I made my way home, clueless as to what to expect when I got there.


End file.
